Major earthquake jolts Indonesia

Jakarta, Seo 19 (DPA) A strong earthquake registering 6.4 on the Richter scale struck off the Indonesian resort island of Bali Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage, the Indonesian seismologist agency said. The quake struck at 6:06 a.m. and was centred in the Indian Ocean, about 101 km south-east of Nusadua on Bali, Indonesia’s National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said.

It occurred 36 km beneath the seabed, but the quake did not trigger a tsunami.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage from the quake, the second strong earthquake to jolts Indonesia within several hours.

Another 6.4-magnitude quake struck eastern Indonesian islands on North Maluku province about five hours earlier on late Friday. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago nation, sits along the Pacific Ocean’s Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

On Sep 2, a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck West Java province, killing more than 70 people and leaving dozens of others missing. Hundreds of others were injured and tens of thousands of homes were damaged.

A major earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck in December 2004, leaving more than 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia’s Aceh province and half a million people homeless.